'Carrier shell' definitions:

Definition of 'Carrier shell'

From: GCIDE
  • Carrier \Car"ri*er\, n. [From Carry.]
  • 1. One who, or that which, carries or conveys; a messenger. [1913 Webster]
  • The air which is but . . . a carrier of the sounds. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. One who is employed, or makes it his business, to carry goods for others for hire; a porter; a teamster. [1913 Webster]
  • The roads are crowded with carriers, laden with rich manufactures. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Mach.) That which drives or carries; as: (a) A piece which communicates to an object in a lathe the motion of the face plate; a lathe dog. (b) A spool holder or bobbin holder in a braiding machine. (c) A movable piece in magazine guns which transfers the cartridge to a position from which it can be thrust into the barrel. [1913 Webster]
  • Carrier pigeon (Zool.), a variety of the domestic pigeon used to convey letters from a distant point to to its home.
  • Carrier shell (Zool.), a univalve shell of the genus Phorus; -- so called because it fastens bits of stones and broken shells to its own shell, to such an extent as almost to conceal it.
  • Common carrier (Law.) See under Common, a. [1913 Webster]